The Will To Protect
by LordIbtou
Summary: Sawada Tsunayoushi, losing his mother at the hands of some members of the mafia, vows to protect the weak, those people precious to him and stop the crimes all around the world. How can his journey unfold ? Could he achieve what he seeked without choosing a wrong path. "I'm looking forward to this journey of yours, decimo ! Let's just hope you'll chose the right path."
1. Chapter 1

**The will to protect**

* * *

An eleven-year-old Tsuna sprinted away, ran as fast as he could with frantic, panicky steps. He could hear the sound of rushed footsteps of his pursuers, drawing closer by the moment. He turned around a corner, trying despretly to shake off his persuers, ignoring the alarm bells shouting in his body, indicating just how tired he was.

He leaped over a fence landing a bit roughly on his side-the tiredness he felt getting into him- showing some atheltic talent he never knew he had, maybe it had something to do with that strange flame earlier or his strong tenacity to survive, he thought briefly before shaking it, he had to focus on surviving, on escaping. He had to, his mother told him so.

The thought of her brought more tears to his already teary eyes, his mom died protecting him just because he was weak, just because he wasn't strong to protect _her._ And for a moment Tsuna barely kept himself from wailing and weeping. He missed his mamma's smile already, missed his mama's kind nature and Mama's cheerful attitude.

He wiped his tears away, as he rested his back on the fence behind him. He figured he could rest his exaushted body for a little bit since he could hear the sounds fading into the distance. A slight tinge of hope grewin his chest as he thought that he may have giving them the slip. He released an tired sigh. Looking around him, the brunet couldn't recognise where he was- a green clearing filled with flowers and plants- He never ventured to these parts, that realisation made a stir of dread wash over him, realsing that he could not return home easily, not that he wanted to return right away. His previous residence held a dreadful memory he didn't think he could forget easily.

The setting sun was casting long red shadows through the trees, lighting up the carpet of daisies and bluebells. It was beautiful, he pondered for a moment before shaking the thought away. He had no time for such a pleasent thought, just the strong urge to escape the black clad mens.

Tsuna shakily stood up as the sound of footsteps reached his ear sugesting that they were still close, right on his tail. He made a move to leave the clearing and head toward the river he could see up ahead, he was, however, able to hear the words exchanged by the men.

"We can't let that brat escape. Our orders were clear : Kill Sawada Lemitsu's family. We can't let him survive."

"We can't call ourselves mafiosi if we can't catch a boy even if he's that vongola's scun child."

 _'Mafiosi ? Vongola ? They're after us because of dad ?'_

Now, Sawada Tsunayoushi was no fool, no matter how you looked at it. He may not be good at adamedics or even literature but he was certain that his father was hiding something from them, something big and he realised that as soon as he heard his lame and unrealistic cover story. And his certainty only furthered, because what part of helping the traffic caused by the penguins in the south pole would get the mafia on your back and make a move for your family.

He could already form thousands conspiracy theories... Well not exactly.

Pushing the thought and the growing resentment he now has for his father to the back of his head. Tsuna focused on getting more distance as he could from his pursuers, but he could assume he was safe for now since no one got the idea to leap over the fence right before their eyes. All he had to do was leap over a fence to escape, if only he knew.

Tsuna's sprint halted to slow calm steps as his breathing became less elabored. He allowed his lips to stretch into a curl similiar to akin to a smile that quickly got replaced by a frown as Tsuna remembered the predicament he was in. Even though he managed to escape, he was still lost. Tears threatened to flow freely from his eyes but he quickly blinked them away. He promised to be strong right besides his mother's body.

He let his gaze wander around, looking for anywhere that he could take shelter in until he could figure out what to do next. His eyes instantly fell on a distant large old mansion on the other riverside, consilled by few trees here and there. About thirty minutes walk.

He beamed, things are looking up for a bit here.

* * *

Tsuna slowly and carefully pushed the huge black iron gate of the mansion before stepping into the stone path that devided the huge garden into two segments. Looking around Tsuna could distinguish different blooming plants from peruvian lily to pineapple sage to lavender and glorisa daisy and all other kind of perennial flowers giving the garden a magestic beauty.

The brunet was amazed by the scenery and appreciated the work done to grow those plants. He was a nature loving boy and gardenning was one of his few hobbies aside of videogames.

The grass however grew long and unkempt giving off an unpleasent sight as it covered most of the plants but that was mainly due to lack of care for the gardens for maybe years. The boy could even spot several dead plants.

He walked past the old tarnished porch that covered the entrance to the building. Tsuna steeled himself before pushing the door open.

In contrast to the exterior, the bulding was not faring that well, time inflicted quite the damage to the once proud and mighty mansion. Still, Tsuna couldn't help but marvel at the huge entrance hall, it was big enough to fit twice the size of his ancient house. there was couple decorations here and there that accumulated dust, yet were still giving a positive vibe to its surroundings. A certain portrait in the wall facing him caught his eye as he noticed a blonde man surrounded by friends. The dust assemled on the frame of the picture prevented him from noticing any further detail.

That blonde hair was the same shade as his father's. He thought as his mind tried to make some assumptions. Tsuna never met his grandfather. Was that him in the picture ? Of course he couldn't get much detail but from the breif glance he could see the unmistakable resemblance he beared to that man. And he was left to wonder, was he related to that man ? Has he stumbled upon his ancestors land by a strange twist of fate ? That thought produced a small snort of amusement.

Just exploring the mansion, the boy's eyes darted taking in everything about the mansion amased by the sight of colourful walls, magnificant chandiliers and huge tables, laying stagnant , dusty, yet held the weight of many memories, laughter and heartfelt moments. He didn't know how but Tsuna could sense the magic still vibrating within the walls, he could imagine the life the ocuupants of this building enjoyed.

Tsuna finaly found himself in a huge office, a desk bigger than any he had seen before was placed in front of a big, slightly broken window but still giving a really beautiful view on the world outside. The desk was made of fancy wood. Tsuna was no expert but he appreciated its elegance. On either side of the office were cabinets covered by doors of glass, filled to the brim by books.

He walked toward the desk, barely noticing the glint the marble gave off as the sun's last rays shone through the window.

He brushed his hands against the wooden desk, stopping besides the chair as his gaze wandered beyond the window, eyes twinkled with astounishment at the orange sky and the beautiful sea of trees underneath it. What a sight to behold !

Tearing his gaze off the wonderful scenery, Tsuna sat on the comfortable chair as his hand immediately shot for a picture frame on the desk. He quickly wiped the dust collected by the frame. The same blonde man was there, surrounded by five people, his friends. Tsuna guessed. The man was laughing heartidly as two of his friends, a red haired one and green haired teenager seemed to be in a glaring contest. Another seemed to laugh at their anticts while trying to calm them. Another seemed to be enthusiastic about something while a white greenish haired boy was trying to keep a bit of distance between them, but the small unmistakble smile was there.

 _'I wonder If I can have friends as good a his.'_ It was the last thought he had before he slumped on the desk, the tiredness of the day came rushing in.

* * *

 _"Tsu-Kun, don't stay here ! Run !." Her face was twisted in fear lacking the usual kindness and warmth. Her voice came_ _impulsively, without a second of forethought._ _"RUN !" her hand gripping the kitchen knife in a shaky manner as she positioned herself between me and the suit wearing man. I know it was pointless anyway since that man carried a gun with that sound supressing thingy I've seen in movies._

 _He made no move, simply watching in amusement, cruel smirk sticking throughout it all like some kind of glue._

 _I couldn't run for two reasons : The fear paralysed me, I couldn't move a muscle, the other : I couldn't just leave my mother behind, no matter what._

 _"GO ! I'll be okay." She said louder than I ever heard before, her voice so full of authority, firm,_ _unyielding tenacity. So unlike her._

 _At that exact moment, the mafiosi decided it was enough for him. He rolled his eyes in a bored manner, lifting his gun, the other hand quickly cancelling the safety trigger._

 _My mother turned to me smiling in a sad manner, urging me to move, to run, to survive._

 _The man prepared himself to fire the bullet and my face settled into a horrified expression._

 _I was weak._

 _I couldn't even carry the shopping bags that my mother usually cary without much effort._

 _I was clumsy._

 _I was always tripping, even over my own feet._

 _I was useless._

 _I couldn't protect my mother like I promised my dad._

 _I was nothing but a dame, a dame that failed in everything._

 _Emotions swirled in me. I felt a strange warmth inside me,_ _I couldn't comprehend that feeling. How could I feel warm, when I'm on the brink of death ? When my mother was on the brink of death ?_

 _The answers came rushing in as I felt a new found power, speed I never felt before. Flame unleashed around me in a wild manner before settling down as fast as it came._

 _I desprately leaped forward trying to stop the man before any bullet was shot, before the smile on his mother leaved for good, before he could never see her again._

 _I was not fast enough._

 _I was useless, yet again._

 _The bullet was shot before I could do anything and I was too much of a coward to think of shielding my mother with my own body in the first place._

 _A fraction of a second is what made the difference. I was a fraction of a second late, because as soon as the bullet left the gun, heading for my mother I was in front of the man, my hand cocked backward._

 _As soon as my fist connected, the man fell to the ground unconcious. I barely had time to register my satisfaction at seeing the blood drip from his mouth tinting the ground, deciding to rush to my mother's side._

 _She brushed her hand against my cheek, her touch as gentle and kind as ever. She smiled slightly, wiping the tears that welled up in my eyes with her other hand._

 _"Tsu-kun ! My tsu-kun." She mumbled softly. She brushed my hair back and forth gently as I clang to her, refusing to let go, my tears staining her shirt, but I didn't care and she didn't seem to mind either."You're such a strong boy ! I'm proud of you." My eyes grew wide hearing those words._

 _Her smile stretched further and I couldn't think it would possibly get any kinder than that._

 _"Mom..." I sobbed."Please don't leave me ! I ... Can't live without you."_

 _I looked terrified when she coughed a bit of blood, but her smile never left her face._

 _"Oh You will... Young man ! You're gonna survive ! You're my baby... after all ! Sorry... I couldn't stay with you longer. But, you're gonna have to promise that you'll remain strong and survive._

 _"I... promise."_

 _"I love you... my boy ! I...I regret not being there to meet your ... girlfriend... Not getting to spoil my little... grandchildren. Not seeing you bloom .. into ... a powerful and reliable man." She coughed again."But I'll always ... be in your heart, right young man ? Because... I'll be watching over you ... And you better not forget me or do anything stupid. And keep yourself healthy, okay ? I ... don't want you... to lose weight. That would be a problem. wouldn't it ?"_

 _I just nodded so quickly, taking everything to heart, that I thought my neck was gonna get snapped out of place._

 _"Get stronger so you can protect your friends and yourself , alright ? I don't want you joining me quickly." I could feel her heart beating slower indicating that it's gonna stop beating anytime soon, and her breathing became even more shallow and her pulse seemed to fade._

 _"Now go ... Before any of those mens come here ! Go !" She smile softly as I left her side hesitantly before running off trying to canceel my tears._

 _And with that Nana Sawada gave her last breath, yet a fond smile stubbornly remained in place._

* * *

 **Words count : 2,321 word(s)**

 **Published : August ,3th, 2016**


	2. Chapter 2

**_The will To Protect_**

* * *

 _' You let me die !" His mother asked, an expression of betrayal on her face.'Why did you let me die ?'_

 _'Mom... I...' He tried to answer, his form shivering, tears forming at the corner of his eyes._

 _'You're such a weak boy. You just let me die. You didn't do anything.'_

 _'Mom ! I'm sorry... I'm sorry.' Tsuna whispered, collapsing on the ground, tears flowed freely down his cheek, but he made no move to stop it._

 _'I'm dissapointed in you, Tsuna. You couldn't even protect your mother. I trusted you to do it.' His father was now at his side, looking down at him with a look of dissapointment, anger and sadness._

 _'Dame-Tsuna couldn't even protect his mother. Still dame as always.' Some of his classmates snickered from around him._

 _'Weak.'_

 _'Useless.'_

 _'Your're not my son. If you were you wouldn't let me die.'_

Tsuna jerked awake, sitting up quickly and abruptly. His eyes wide, a horrified expression on his face. His body drenched in sweat as his hands subconsciously clenched into fists almost drawing blood.

"I'm sorry, mom. I'm sorry." He curled into a ball, crying his eyes out.

Did his mother really think that way ? Maybe she hated him now. Could her words before dying be just lies ? It couldn't be, could it ? His mind must be making those dreams up.

But what if they're true ?

Tsuna lied back on his bed, sinking his head deep into the comfortable pillow. He sobs, the pillow muffling the sound that came with it.

'Wait' The brunet thought when a sudden realisation dawned on him.'How did I end up here. I remember passing out in that office.'

He looked around the room, his eyes taking in the detail of it through slightly blurry vision.

The chamber was very vast and luxurious from the comfortable bed to the beautiful fancy and orange paint that seemed to add a bit more light and warmth to the room. He barely recognised it as one of the many rooms in the mansion.

"Had a nightmare, decimo ?" Tsuna gasped at the sudden voice, turning to the direction of the voice all the while preparing himself to flee. His eyes landed on a man with a spiky blond hair similiar to his, his eyes were as blue as the spring sky, his smile was warmer than the gentle sky.

"You're...You're that man from that picture." The boy stated, surprised, He rubbed his eyes thinking that it might be his mind playing tricks, wiping the tears in his eyes at the same time."I'm sorry for disturbing you and coming to this place. I just thought no one lived here and I kinda needed a place to stay."

The man seemed young, any assumption Tsuna had indicating that he may be his grandfather quickly vanished. Tsuna thought this man was dead, he didn't pry too much into information, but with the looks of things around the mansion, it seemeed that it had been build many years ago, despite all the luxury. The picture he saw also pointed to that.

The blond man let out a small chuckle, approching the brunet making him fidget nervously. His warm smile returned as he spoke gently.

"You do not need to worry. You didn't disturb me. I'm actually happy that you stumbled upon this place."

"Happy ?" Tsuna repeated, unsure of how to react.

"I get to meet one of my grandchildren." He grinned, his face glowing with pure unrivaled happiness.

"Y-You're my grandfather ?" The brunet asked.

"Well I'm your great great great grandfather. So in a way yes, I'm your grandfather." He chuckled at the incredulous look he got as response."I'm sure you have some questions for me, but for now, what do you say about getting some breakfast. My name is Giotto by the way."

Normally, with some common sense, you wouldn't believe someone appearing in front of you and claiming to be your great great great grandfather. But for sawada tsunayoushi as long as the feeling in his gut told him to trust this man, then he would do just that. So far his intuition never betrayed him.

And so he shall let his intution guide him.

* * *

Tsuna went to the direction of the market to get some necesities with a bit of money Giotto gave him from a very well hidden vault in the mansion. The brunet was gawking the moment he saw the amount of money there. It could last him a lifetime. Imagine what he could with it and how many people he could help.

The brunet huffed as he walked slowly, looking around the street trying, without much result to figure out where the market was. Giotto showed him some old map of Namimori he had kept hidden in his office in the hope of helping him figure his way around, but a lot changed along the years and many green places where replaced by buildings and such.

So Tsuna was left wandering the almost deserted streets, He did notice a very strange boy saying some extreme 'things' while doing an extreme 'jog', mindlessly, while memorising the direction he came from. For all his life tsuna had never had the responsibilty for tasks such as shopping, it was always his mother that took care of those chores, so he had never had the ability to wander to the store.

In fact, the boy, due to the lack of friends, rarely left home in his free-time, prefering to stay in his room playing video games or sleeping. All in all, he only knew the way to his school along with other paths he used before.

He sighed, running a hand through his soft hair in irritation. He should've accepted his mother's offers to accompany her sometimes.

The Streets were mostly deserted as it was so early in the morning, the sun had barely risen and the city had the subdued quiet of dawn, there was barely any sound around making him enjoy the chirping of birds and the rustling of the leaves.

He turned around another corner, his eyes narrowing in annoyance as he could not find any store on either side of the small street.

A sudden scream that started a heated one sided argument broke through the quiet atmosphere alarming Tsuna and urging him to check the source of these shouts.

Maybe he should run as his intuition told him ? It didn't indicate a certain danger of death or anything. The feeling was more along the lines of 'Get out out of here because there's a really strange individual ahead'. He decided to ignore it, what could be more strange than talking to your great great great grandfather that is supposedly dead.

So, moving toward the direction of the shouts, Tsuna found the same 'extreme' boy from before standing protectively in front of a red haired boy curled in a very 'unextreme' position, he was facing an intimidating looking man holding a knife.

"THAT'S SO UNEXTREME. TRYING TO ROB THIS POOR BOY." He heard the boy say-shout as he glared at the man in front of him. It seeemd the two of them didn't notice tsuna.

"Shut up and move out of my way if you don't wanna die." The man said with a roll of the eyes. This boy was so damn loud. God, it was supposed to be easy, get the money from this red-haired boy and go. Easy money. But no, this 'extreme' boy had to interfere.

"No way I'm I gonna let you hurt this boy."

The man murmured something under his breath that Tsuna couldn't catch before charging forward intending on stabbing the white haired boy. He gasped, before steeling himself. He would not let any innocent people die, not on his watch.

The robber found himself immobilised as a hand gripped his wrist in a strong grip and a pair of strange orange coloured eyes looked at him with a cold hard stare. Pain shot through his hand as the new arrival applied more pressure on it making him drop the knife he was holding. He raised his left hand, before curling into a fist intending to punch the boy. The brunet was no older than eleven years old, there was no way he could be fast enough to evade his attack... right ?

A smirk formed on the man's face oddly reminiscent to his mother's killer- Tsuna noted- made anger inside the brunet flare up and he felt himself face to face with the man from yesterday. The man that killed his mother.

Avoiding the punch was an extremely easy feat for him, and he gave a strong punch to the man's gut in retaliation that knocked the wind out of him. Another punch to the face connected, hurling him into a wall. The man slid off to the ground barely keeping himself conscious. His eyes widened in fear when he saw the boy run toward him in abnormal speed, the brunet started throwing barrage of fierce punches. He was surprised when he saw some tears leaking out of the boy's now brown eyes and the last thing he heard before embracing unconsciousness were hysterical shouts of 'Why did you have to kill her', as far as he knew, he never killed anybody.

To the side, Ryohei, the white haired boy, watched agape as the boy continued to hit the man within an inch of his life. The new arrival seemed very strong, he had not even noticed him being there in the first place, but he seemed to be extremly angrered by that man. He would've said that the boy's actions were unextreme, they were still unextreme to some extent in his opinion, but the shouts that came with each punch and the pained and quiet sobs refrained him from doing so. Did this man kill one of his friends or family ? He looked at the red haired boy behind him who was sporting the same grim expression he had, before moving hesitantly toward the brunet.

He put a nervous hand on the boy's shoulder, and tsuna's hand seemed to stop mid swing.

"Stop ! He's already had his share of punishement. You do not need to inflict any more harm on him." He spoke nervously, trying to stop the boy's tantrum. He tensed slightly as the boy turned his head. His eyes softened at the tears streaming down the boy face. And he saw something within those brown wide eyes, he saw pain, fear, greif and sorrow. His heart sank as he wondered about what kind of trauma this boy experienced ?

Tsuna let his hands drop by his sides, as he hang his hand in shame, realising that in his fit of anger he almost killed someone, someone who had nothing to do with his mother's death. It just that ..."He looked just like _him..._ That smirk. I couldn't control myself." He murmured, trying to find comfort to the regret and guilt building inside him.

He leaned his back against a building and covered his face with his hands.

Ryohei looked at tsuna withg compassion as he tried to find a way to stop the emotionel turnoil the boy was having. The red haired boy was already kneeling besides the boy but he didn't utter a word.

The white haired boxer was never good with these things, he always spoke the first thing that came to his mind and hoped his 'extremness' will do the job.

"It's EXTREMLY okay. You don't have to worry about him, I'll call an imbulance." That certainly didn't help as the boy sulked even more. Maybe It needs more 'extremness' to it... Say something more... extreme.

"But really you were EXTREME." That should work, everyone wants to be called EXTREME after all... Or not. "Come on cheer up ! We'll have a friendly boxing match if you want." Still nothing... Maybe 'extremness' doesn't work all the time.

"Boxing match ?" Tsuna looked up hesitantly."What if I hurt you ? Didn't you see ? I was so ... unextreme." He said, feeling almost tempted to talk in an extreme manner. " I almost killed someone... innocent. Someone that had nothing to do with my problems. Doesn't that make me like the scum that killed my mother ?"

The two boys looked at him with compassion, they felt sorry for him.

"Don't say that to the EXTREME ! You're a nice person."

"How... How would you know that ?" Tsuna asked.

This time, the red haired boy, Shoichi, decided to speak. "We know that because you didn't hesitate to help us, even though you don't know us. You placed yourself in danger just for that. Do you think those scums would do that for another person. Yes, maybe your actions were a bit, How should I put it ? ... unextreme, but that doesn't change anything you're still the nice, shy Sawada Tsunayoushi." He finished with a smile and when Tsuna raised his head, his eyes conveying his expression of desbelief, both at the fact that the boy knew his name and the words that he spoke, Shoichi found himself feeling anxious and that showed by the clutching of his stomache.

"I agree with him to the EXTREME." Ryohei cut in before tsuna could speak."You're Sawada ? As in Sawada-kun that kyoko spoke of one time ? She always said you're a shy and kind person but clumsy. But you don't seem clumsy at all."

"Kyoko-chan did ?" Tsuna tried to fight off the blush knowing that his crush spoke about him to another person. He turned to the other boy."Um... How do you know my name ?"

"Well, for a start we are neighbours Tsunayoushi-kun. I saw you many times before walking in and out of your house." He hesitated for a moment before continuing."Our mothers were kind of acquaintances. My mother always thought that your family was famous and always tried to speak to your mother. She told me your mather was kind and gentle and modest."

"Well... That's true." Tsuna smiled softly.

Shoichi smiled too."She was kind of devastated yesterday. She saw some men wearing in black yesterday and she thought you're doing some kind of interview with them. The moment they left running, she told me she was going to ask your mother about those mens. When she entered your house surprised when she found the door slightly open, and saw... you know..." He sighed tiredly."I don't want to say this now. But, your mother's funeral is tommorow. My mother called an ambulance and everything. I'll take to where it's gonna take place if you want."

Tsuna nodded." Thank you." He whispered.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Exclaimed Ryohei."We're here for you now ! As your new friends. My name is Sasagawa Ryohei, by the way. Nice to meet you." He smiled brightly.

"Huh ! You're a relative of Kyoko-chan ?"

"I'm her brother." He replied, smile still in place.

"Oh nice to meet you !" Tsuna said, shaking ryohei's hand with a small smile.

"It's only fair I tell you my name aswell. I'm Shoichi Irie." The red haired boy smiled too a small gentle smile.

Looking at the two boys, one of them an enthusiastic and lively but sweat lad and the other was a calm and gentle youth.

They were like two suns. Ryohei was like the noon sun, shining so brightly, glowing with so much energy that makes you feel warm. Shoichi was like the morning sun, gentle and kind, calming and soothing.

Tsuna found himself standing in front of two suns...wait, three considering the rasing sun he could see in the sky. No wonder he felt so warm, inside and out.

The brunet swore inwardly that he would protect those two... After all the sun needed it's sky embrace and the sky in turn needed it's sky just as much... Well, he can be gready and have two suns for himself.

A feeling on the back of his head told him that he was not supposed to say such things until later. And he found himself wondering what the hell did he just think ?

"Um... You're just gonna leave me hanging ?" Shoichi mentionned to his outstretched hand, waiting for Tsuna's hand to shake it.

A mischievous glint shined on the boy eyes that mde a sense of dread run down Tsuna's spine.

"Oh, sorry. Nice To meet YAHHHHH."

"Oupps ! I forgot to take off the zapper. You see, I'm not completly hopeless when it comes to fighting."

Ryohei and Shoishi broke off into a fit of laughter, suggesting that The white haired boy knew of the other's ploy, that tsuna found himself joining them, surprising even himself.

* * *

 **Sorry if this story is a bit slow based. It's just that I'm still trying my head around the ideas swirling in my mind. I always get this sudden change and I'm still trying to settle on the best Idea. Bear with me, Ok ?**

 **So do you like the story ? Should I continue ? Your Ideas would be appreciated.**

 **A single review makes the author more happy than a few reviews/favorites.**

* * *

 **Word count : 2,864 !**

 **Updated : august, 10th, 2016**


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